The Rain's Lament
by Makino114
Summary: [IchiRuki] The hollow that killed Kaien comes back to get revenge on Rukia and takes over Ichigo! But Ichigo's hollow will not allow another hollow taking over him, so Rukia makes a decision that will end all this chaos. [OneShot]


**The Rain's Lament**

**Pairings: **Ichigo x Rukia (duh!)

**Basis:** This is based on my previous story **_Taken Over_**, but since I didn't like that story, I took the idea of it and changed the plotline and wrote it into this.

**A/N: **for those reviews who liked **_Taken Over_** and wanted me to continue it, I'm sorry that I have to 'kill' it, but I hope you guys will like this one-shot since the main idea is the same.

**Dedication:** For my dear **Hiro-san** who always knocks some sense into me when I need it. Also, to my good friend **Rosegirl18** who encouraged me on writing this, you're the best Julia-chan!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Bleach, Kubo Tite does, all I own is this story.

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_**Prologue: **_

It was supposed to be a normal hollow hunt. It was supposed to end quickly so Ichigo and Rukia could get home before they were soaked. It was not supposed to end up being a brutal battle. As for the hollow, it was definitely not supposed to be _him_.

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After Ichigo got slammed into a nearby tree, the hollow turned around to face her. Once she saw his face, Rukia was shocked…so much that she can care less about how much blood Ichigo was coughing up right now.

Orihime went up to her, noticing that something was wrong. She put her hands on Rukia's shoulders and shook her, while asking frantically, "Kuchiki-san, are you alright?"

Finally snapping out of whatever she was thinking of, she pointed her index finger at the hollow and cried. "YOU! You're the bastard that killed Kaien-dono and her wife!"

After pondering a bit, the hollow finally replied. "Why…little girl, I haven't seen you in quite some time." It said slyly. "Judging from that dumb look on your face, you want to know why I'm not dead right?"

The hollow's grin grew bigger, seeing that astonished look on Rukia's face.

"The moment you stabbed that shinigami, I managed to get part of me out of his body, the rest died with that guy. It took me all these 50 years to eat enough souls so I can gain back the power I lost that day. But in other words, all you really killed that night was your own comrade, not me."

Rukia's eyes grew wide with shock. '_So I am the one who killed Kaien-dono…I didn't even avenge him, all these years I let that thing eat more and more souls…I..I...I'm such a monster!'_ Tears started trickling down her cheeks at thought of what she has done, but the rain hid it from the others' eyes.

"Rukia…" Ichigo whispered into nothing, he got up and was about to walk over to her, but saw Orihime walking up to her.

Right when the orange haired girl was about to saw something, one of the hollow's tentacles hit her from behind and sent her flying into a wall as Orihime fell unconscious from the impact.

"Inoue!" The two shinigami's yelled simultaneously.

Noticing that the two diverted their attention to the human, the hollow took its chance and used one of it's tentacles to stabbed into Ichigo's back. Slowly, parts of its body started following its tentacle that was connected to Ichigo and went inside him.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled. "You, why can't you fight a one on one battle with me, get out of him and fight like a man!"

It was too late; the hollow was already inside of Ichigo.

"Sorry little girl, too late." It said as it stood up, in Ichigo's body. "Besides, I'm no man, I'm just a hollow! And what fun is it getting revenge on you for what I had to go through these 50 years just by having a one on one battle? You seem to care a lot for this boy, maybe even more than you cared for that shinigami back then."

Determined, Rukia pulled out Shirayuki, she can't let the same thing that happened to Kaien-dono replay on Ichigo.

"Come and kill me if you want girl, just remember that if I die, this boy dies with me!" Its laughter rang through the sky, along with the dreadful sound of heavy rainfall.

Then, the hollow's laughter abruptly changed…changed as in…the voice sounded different…more high pitched.

"Asshole, Ichigo can only have one hollow inside of him, and that's me!"

Rukia recognized this voice right away, it was Hollow-Ichigo's voice…this was Ichigo's own hollow!

Slowly, Ichigo's hollow mask started materializing on his face as his black shinigami robes turned white along with Zangetsu.

"Long time no see, Rukia." Hollow-Ichigo said.

Not knowing if she should be relieved or not since even though this was Ichigo's own hollow, it was still a hollow after all, an ever more powerful one too.

"What…what happened to the other hollow?" She questioned carefully.

"Oh, you mean that other thing who was trying to take over my body?" Hollow-Ichigo said in a disgustingly high pitched voice. "I took care of it already, a piece of lame and powerless crap like that shouldn't exist on the world!"

Somewhat relieved, Rukia continued her questioning. "So you killed it? Is that what you mean?"

"No shit, that powerless thing is a disgrace to us hollows." It said triumphantly. Proud that he took care of that thing in such little time.

"So now you should get back to where you're from and let the real Ichigo back out." Rukia ordered the fear in her voice gone.

"Why? I am Ichigo, a more powerful Ichigo!" It smirked wickedly, truth to be told; it admired Rukia's guts for talking to him that way.

"I'll only say this once, get back in there or we'll have to solve this the hard way." With that Rukia pointed Shirayuki at Ichigo.

From far away, a half conscious Inoue finally comes to as she looks at the sight before her eyes. She couldn't believe it; Rukia…was pointing her sword at Ichigo!

"Kuchiki-san! What…what are you doing? Why are fighting with Kurosaki-kun?" She asked worriedly, her voice still very weak and hard to her, but at least Rukia heard her.

"Orihime, just stay there and rest, I'll take care of things, this isn't Ichigo, it's his hollow." The black haired shinigami assured her weak friend.

Reassured, Orihime just sat there and watched her two friends' point zenpatkutohs at each other.

'_I won't be able to use any of Shirayuki's attacks, since it'll harm Ichigo's body…so all I could do now is use my riatsu to force his hollow back inside him…'_ Rukia said to herself.

Without any notice, hollow-Ichigo lunged himself at her, resulting in a white Zangetsu and a white Shirayuki clashing.

Hollow-Ichigo's face was only a few inches from hers as he whispered into her ear. "Can't hurt me, can you?"

With that, they both drew back, ready for another attack.

"Let's make this attack the last one." Rukia said. Her voice sounded confident, but really…she wasn't. Ichigo's hollow self was obviously too powerful for her, so she only has on choice. As she lifts up Shirayuki once again to put herself in an attack stance, she concentrates all her riatsu on her zenpatkutoh.

Seeing her two friends point swords at each other, looking like they're about to kill the other any moment now made Orihime's heart wrench. Because she knew that if either one of them really did hurt the other, they'll be in grief for the rest of their lives. She was sure of this because she knew how strong of a bond the two shared for each other.

In the blink of an eye, Rukia and Hollow-Ichigo charged at each other. Orihime's eyes grew wide in horror as a puddle of blood formed on the floor.

Maybe this is fate; maybe what goes around really does come around. She did this to someone before, it's nothing new, and now, it's only right for it to happen on her, right?

With a great amount of Rukia's riatsu surging through him, Ichigo - the _real_ Ichigo finally came back as hollow-Ichigo got pushed back into the depths of Ichigo by the great amount of riatsu.

Ichigo could feel that the place around his chest hurt a lot, he knew it was probably because that's where her riatsu surged into him, but it was also because of the impact of her zenpatkuptoh. But something wasn't right…he couldn't feel the wetness of his blood, probably because it was raining and that he was soaked already, but he couldn't even feel blood come out.

As he looked down, his eyes widen. Rukia…she…used the hilt of Shirayuki to stab him! That means…that means the blood on the floor…

"Ichigo…" Rukia whispered softly, so soft that almost even the pitter patter of the rain can cover her voice.

"It's okay; really…I'm glad you're back to your old self." She said as she smiled softly at him, a smile he never seen her wear before.

"But why, Rukia, you're...you're so stupid, I'm not worth it…" Tears started welling up in his eyes. He didn't want to admit that he was about to cry, because guys don't cry, especially guys like him. But this, this was different.

Soon, Ichigo's tears were mixed with the rain that was trailing down his face.

They stood in that position for who knows how long, just staring at each other. The hilt of Rukia's zenpakutoh was still touching Ichigo's heart. While Ichigo's zenpatkutoh stabbed through Rukia in the stomach area, blood dripping off of the part of the blade that stood out in her back.

Orihime cried, she wanted to say something, but she couldn't, her voice all choked up. She knows how much pain Ichigo was in, she could tell in his eyes. But what could she do? All she did was sit around and do nothing! Furious at herself and heart wrenching like crazy from the scene before her, she remained silent. This was the least she could do; let the two have some last minute personal time without her interrupting.

"Don't cry Ichigo…" Rukia said as she slowly lifted her hand to wipe away his tears. But even if on the outside she can make his tears go away, inside, he's still crying and the internal weeping will never stop.

"Rukia, you're so stupid, you didn't have to do that!" He yelled at her. He was so mad, so mad at how another woman he loves is sacrificing for him. His mom wasn't enough, now Rukia had to go, does kami-sama want him to be in grief so much?

Unable to keep standing, Rukia fell to her knees, dropping Shirayuki to the floor in the process. But before she could fall face first to the floor, Ichigo caught her.

Staring into his eyes, Rukia continued. "Shinigami's aren't like humans, Ichigo you have to understand that. We are…already dead, after this you won't find me in Soul Society, so…don't try."

With that, her body started disintegrating.

"Rukia! Don't, please don't leave me…" Ichigo cried, tears falling onto her face. He held her in a close embrace. "I already lost mom, please, I can't loose you too."

Weakly pushing herself from his embrace, she takes one last good look at him, and gives him her last words.

"Ichigo, after I'm gone, take care of Shirayuki for me will you? And don't worry; two parts of me will always be with you." She pointed at his heart, "my riatsu", then she looked down at her white zenpatkutoh, "and Shirayuki."

Nodding, Ichigo slowly leans in to have his lips meet hers, wanting to osculate her before she vanishes. But when he leaned in and felt nothing, he knew she was already gone.

As he opened his eyes, nothing was left, except for Shirayuki lying in the puddle of blood she had left behind.

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Orihime limply walked over to where Ichigo was. Without saying a word, she rested an assuring hand on his shoulder. Ichigo didn't look up, because he knew she was crying too, and seeing her cry wouldn't help his state much.

As the gray sky continued to weep and sing its sorrowful lament for him, Ichigo holds onto Shirayuki and started weeping with the sky.

_Fin. -_

A/N: I hope you guys liked it, I'm thinking of writing an **epilogue** since I have some after thoughts for this one-shot, but that all depends on the reviews (laughs evilly) xP, anyhow, R&R!


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